Welcome autumn!

With the cooler nights, the crisp days, and the incredible blue skies this past week, you know that autumn has arrived. In fact, it officially rolled in on Sept. 22 – just last weekend.

This is the most fabulous time to experience all the grandeur of Gaston County!

Between the many parks – the newly renovated Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia to the newly opened Goat Island Park in Cramerton , to all of the County parks: Poston Park in Lowell, Dallas Park in Dallas, Tryon Park in Bessemer City, Pearl Henderson Park on Union Road, South Fork River Park on Hickory Grove Road, there are certainly plenty of local spaces for you to spend some quality time with you and Mother Nature.

Get your family out to take in these beautiful days of fall. There are fall festivals to enjoy, fall football at local high schools on Friday nights and soccer matches through the week.

We have been very happy bike riding the great roads in Gaston County – so thanks to all of you drivers for keeping alert to the many bike riders who share the roads. Someday, maybe the Carolina Thread Trail will find its way through the county, linking many greenways together. Greenways are another great resource for getting people outside to experience and enjoy the gift of our natural world.

So, in the spirit of the 3 R’s, allow me to add a fourth “R” for this season – Recreation! What a better way to experience and educate those around us.

Yes, we need to reduce our impact on the planet, reduce our consumption of resource.

Yes, we need to reuse and redistribute the “stuff” we own.

And yes, we need to recycle (a big shout out to Gastonia for the huge amounts of recycling reported last week in Gazette ); materials that can be recycled save us from starting with virgin materials, saving resources and energy.

But our reward (another “R” word) is to enjoy our efforts and take in our world, and recreate in and with our planet.

So glad fall’s here!

Nan Kirlin is recycling coordinator for Gaston County. Her column runs on Sundays.

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